Several techniques have evolved for treating a subterranean well formation to stimulate hydrocarbon production. For example, hydraulic fracturing methods have often been used according to which a portion of a formation to be stimulated is isolated using conventional packers, or the like, and a stimulation fluid containing gels, acids, sand slurry, and the like, is pumped through the well bore into the isolated portion of the formation. The pressurized stimulation fluid pushes against the formation at a very high force to establish and extend cracks on the formation.
However, a number of disadvantages are associated with conventional approaches. First, the typical fracture operation requires two downhole trips: the first trip to perform depth correlations, and the second trip to actually perform the perforation and fracture operation. This is very time consuming and costly because a single trip may take 12 hours or more, and rig time can be in the 100,000 USD per day. Second, there is currently no means by which to receive real-time downhole data related to wellbore parameters during the perforation and fracture operation. Third, the pumping rate used in abrasive perforation operations is limited to the pumping rate and sand concentration thresholds of the various workstring components (also referred to herein as their “abrasiveness rating”). If the abrasiveness rating is exceeded in these conventional approaches, the internal parts of the components would erode until the component was no longer operational, thus requiring costly retrieval, replacement and redeployment. To avoid such phenomena, the abrasiveness rating is not exceeded, which means that it takes more time to perform the perforation and fracture operation.